McElwain seals deal on 6'5' defensive end from California

Dec. 11, 2012

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Josh Lovingood, an athletic 6-foot-5, 250-pound defensive end from Fresno, Calif., said Tuesday night that he’ll sign with CSU’s football program.

Lovingood said he was impressed with coach Jim McElwain and the assistants he met during the recruiting process and an in-home visit from McElwain on Monday night sealed the deal.

“Sitting at the table and listening to them talk and just watching them you could tell they had true passion for football,” Lovingood said. “You could tell they really wanted me in their program, and I could sense that they were really genuine about what they were saying.”

Lovingood caught four touchdown passes as a tight end this fall and was in four or five quarterback sacks, he said, for a Clovis North High School team that went 12-2, won the Central Section Division I title and advanced to the California regional playoffs. He had dozens of tackles for losses and batted down a lot of passes, too, Clovis North coach Cory Hall said.

“Josh is a big, physical presence with great athleticism on a 6-5, 250-pound frame,” Hall said. “Colorado State definitely got a great kid in Josh with a tremendous upside. Volleyball, basketball, football; he’s done it all. He can jump out of the gym, and you should see him hurdle defenders when he’s playing tight end.”

Lovingood will play defensive end for the North team this weekend in the Cal State All-Star Game in Visalia, Calif. He also had scholarship offers from Fresno State and Nevada, he said.

NCAA rules prevent college coaches from discussing specific recruits until they have signed national letters of intent, which high school seniors cannot do until Feb. 6, national signing day.

CSU also is believed to be making late push for Valor Christian quarterback Luke Del Rio, one of the top prospects in the state, following his announcement that he was backing off the commitment he had made to Oklahoma State. Del Rio, the son of Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio, announced his decommittment Tuesday on Twitter.

“Officially decommitted from Oklahoma State, opening recruiting back up,” Luke Del Rio wrote on his Twitter account. “#OKST is still one of the options #blessed.”

Luke Del Rio later sent out a tweet saying he enjoyed a recruiting visit he had made in October to Oregon State and that he had to keep “gathering info.”